Rise of the Arcana
by Krazy4Kirino
Summary: Some time has gone by since anything major has happened with the tamers, but of course, nothing lasts forever. A new evil is on the rise, but in an unexpected way. Can the tamers come together one more time to strike evil down? *Time jump, 4 years after D-Reaper. More explanation inside first chapter. I suck at summaries.*
1. The Devils Growl

*AN* The events of this story will be based off the events that occurred in the anime. Everything will be kept the same, with the exception of the ending. For story purposes, it doesn't include the latest movie details or the CD explanation of the tamers getting their digimon back to the real world. Things will be explained inside, happy reading!

Chapter one

The Devils Growl

Four years have passed since the D-reaper was defeated by the heroic tamers and their Digimon, restoring order to the natural state of the world. After the heartbreaking farewell, it was hard for the tamers to return to their normal lives, mainly because the definition of normal had changed for them ever since they met their partners. It was difficult for them to try and go back to the way things were before, it was hard to let go, and as much as they tried to not let it bother them, those who knew them best could see beyond the smile they put on and could tell that deep down, they were still hurting. Maybe hurting isn't the right word, it's more like they were missing a piece of themselves, a part of them that made them into the person they are.

Only a few months after the Digimon had left to go back to their world, Janyu was unable to deal with the guilt and the sadness he had created, and had gone to Yamaki to plead with him, he wanted to try and create a way that his son and his friends could reunite with their Digimon, without also creating a threat to humanity. At first the idea was considered absurd, why would they ever want to reopen a gate to the digital world? Even though Yamaki himself had come to appreciate the children, he just couldn't justify putting the world at risk again. Yamaki made himself clear, but Janyu wouldn't take no for an answer. There had to be some way to make it possible.

It took a few more months, and some old friends, but finally he had thought of an idea. It took a little bit to get Yamaki on board, but eventually he gave in. With the two of them now working together, they were able to create a modified version of the digivice that was able to bring the digital allies back from the other side. Essentially, they would revert back to an egg, and then pass through the digital plane. Once they were in the human world, they would hatch and could be reunited with their tamers. The decision to have them transfer over in egg form came from Yamaki, since the eggs were so small, the gateway needed to bring them over wouldn't need to be very big, it would also drastically cut down the chances of anything else slipping through the field.

The tamers were filled with uncontrollable happiness when they received the news that they would be reunited with their partners, the part of them that they were missing would finally be returned, and they could feel whole again. Of course, the happiest of them were the three tamers that had been with their partners the longest.

Everything went just as planned, and the eggs were able to successfully cross over into the human world without any issues. No wild Digimon were able to cross over during the time the gateway was opened either. Finally reunited with their friends, the tamers were able to return to their true selves. Life continued on perfectly for the next few years, the tamers had all grown and had entered high school. Even Rika was able to join her friends at a public school instead of having to attend a private one. Renamon, Terriermon, and Guilmon had grown with their tamers as well, but each of them had retained the same personality. Guilmon was still a gluttonous goofball, Terriermon was still a witty stuffed animal, and Renamon was still her compassionate, assertive, and heroic self. Both Tamers and Digimon were satisfied with how life was going, everything was so peaceful. However, little did they know, that all that was about to change…

 _Late night, Rika's house._

It was a peaceful night throughout the West Shinjuku district, a soft breeze was blowing through the trees. The rustling of branches and quiet chirps of the crickets outside were the only noises that could be heard. With the exception of a few thundershowers here and there, most nights remained this way. Most of the people had long since been asleep as it was approaching the middle hours of the morning. There were some exceptions though, some of the businesses opened up pretty early as to get a head start on the day. Luckily, Rika wasn't one of those people who needed to get up that early, as she was sound asleep in her room. Her body was still, but her breathing was heavy, and her eyes twitched every now and again.

When Rika opened her eyes, she was submerged and surrounded by what looked like water. Her body was surrounded though by a bubble of data, the same kind of shied that was around her when she and Renamon biomerged.

"Where… am I…?" Her tired and quiet voice echoed around her as she spoke. Her body felt extremely light, like she was floating. For some reason it was all she could do to keep her eyes open.

"Is this a dream…?" She tried to move her eyes to scan the area around her but she couldn't, her body just stood stiff inside her bubble. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she could hear another voice echoing around her. It was a low and dark sounding growl, but it was still far away so she couldn't quite tell what it was saying. Curious as to what it was, she managed to fully open her eyes and began to slowly look around. No matter how hard she looked though, she couldn't see anything, she was just staring out into a vast, endless sea of blue.

Again, the low pitched tone echoed around her, but this time it seemed more like a low pitched laugh rather than a growl. Continuing to search for whatever was making this noise, she noticed a stream of bubbles that had formed close to where she was.

"Who's there?" Her voice perked up, tiredness no longer present. The echo occurred again, but this time it was very close. The low pitched laughter was filling the air all around her.

"Don't interfere…" The voice growled at her. Rika still couldn't get her body to move, just her head. She looked around, startled by the voice of whatever was talking to her.

"Don't interfere…" The voice growled again. The sound was now repeating and echoing all around her, it felt like she was being overwhelmed. Just as one would finish speaking another would start.

"Don't interfere…"

"Don't interfere…

"Don't interfere…"

Rika wanted to cover her ears to try and drown out the sound, but her hands wouldn't move. She was forced to listen to this repeating voice over and over, slowly getting louder each time. Unable to do anything else, she closed her eyes and hoped that the sound would stop.

It continued on for a few more seconds, but eventually it finally came to a halt. When she reopened her eyes, the blue water that had once been around her had turned to pure darkness. The bubble that was around her was the only source of light, providing a soft glow to the dark area. She also found herself staring into the face of a slender, stringy, jellyfish like Digimon. Rika recognized this Digimon as Keramon. It had a very creepy smile strung along its face as it slowly wobbled back and forth, never breaking eye contact with her. Slowly though, it began inching closer to her, until eventually its face was pressed against the bubble. Rika could feel her body tense up as she looked into the eyes of this creepy looking Digimon.

"W- what do you want?!" She shouted at it. The Digimon didn't say anything back, it just continued to press its face against the bubble. She was going to try and yell at it again, but before she could get anything out, the Digimon began to phase through the bubble. Rika gasped in fear as its head began to slowly pass through the bubble that she considered to be a shield. Once it's head was inside, the Keramon started to glitch out, it's body was twitching rapidly and its data was constantly fading in and out. Just as the Keramon was about to disappear, it opened its mouth and let out a horrifying shrieking sound. The noise was so loud and terrifying, it woke Rika up, causing her to let out a brief scream and shoot up out of her bed. She was breathing heavily and could feel the sweat forming on her forehead.

"Rika!" Renamon shouted, quickly opening the door to her room and appearing before her. She knelt down next to her partner and placed her paw on her back. "Are you alright?" Rika let out a sigh and nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream is all." Renamon looked into her eyes for a second and then looked down at her bed. The fox Digimon quickly took notice of the small sweat pool that had formed in her sheets, but before she could say anything about it, she was forced to throw her paws up to her ears as a terrible shrieking sound began to fill the room. Rika did the same, as this was the same noise that the Keramon from her dream had made.

"Ahh! Renamon what is that?!" Rika shouted, her hands pressed strongly against her ears. Renamon did a quick scan of the immediate area, and she noticed a strange light coming from the nightstand near Rika's bedroll. Renamon removed one of her paws from her head and pointed over towards the nightstand.

"Over there," She said. Rika followed her finger and looked over next to her. She leaned over and picked up the device that was the source of this noise. Across the screen of her digivice were a bunch of numbers that looked like a programing code. They were going by so fast it was impossible to tell what numbers were popping up. She tried smacking the side of her digivice, but that didn't work. She messed with it for a few more seconds before the shrieking finally stopped, and the screen on her digivice flickered a few times. Fed up with the situation, she threw her digivice across the room, skipping a few times across the floor.

"…Rika?" Renamon spoke up, taking a seat beside her. Rika let her body fall backwards back onto her bed as she let out a deep sigh. She stared up at her ceiling for a few moments before she finally spoke.

"We can talk about this in the morning. Goodnight Renamon," As the words left her mouth she rolled over and placed her hand under her pillow. Renamon slowly stood back up and walked out of her room, giving one last glance over her shoulder before disappearing into the night.

 _Early morning, Matsuki bakery._

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._ The monotone sound of an alarm clock was ringing throughout the room of one goggle-headed, brown haired, goofball.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap," A voice was saying, their tone in quite a panic. Footsteps could be heard rushing down the stairs of the bakery, as the boy came racing around the corner and into the kitchen, stopping at the counter so he could shove a loaf of bread into his mouth. His dad was sitting at the kitchen table, face buried into his morning newspaper. His mom, who was at the sink, was washing some dishes when she looked over to the entrance of the kitchen to see where all the ruckus was coming from.

"Takato, are you running late for school again?!" She shouted at him. He didn't respond, he just shoved as much bread in his mouth as he could fit and then turned his attention to the front door. "Takato! Takato!" She shouted after him, but he was already gone. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips, but as she did a small smile smirked across her face.

"Some kids never grow up," Takato's father, Takehiro, said. A similar smile crossed his face as he flipped the page in his newspaper.

Takato began rushing down the street making his way towards his school, gulping down the last bit of bread as he did so. He was wearing a solid white shirt with a picture of a black sword on the front, along with a pair of beige colored cargo shorts. Even though it's been awhile since he's had to use it for anything serious, on the belt of his shorts rested his D-Ark. Of course the thing about his outfit that stuck out the most was the pair of small goggles he wore atop his head. He never took them off except to shower and when he went to sleep. To him, they served as a solid reminder of his past. Even though his parents and teachers have been trying for about a few years now to get him to take them off, they never succeed.

As Takato kept running, he began to hear the sound of bigger footsteps beside him, and along with that, he also heard the occasional pant.

"Takatomon, why are we running so fast? I'm gonna get a belly ache…" A child like voice asked. Without even thinking of who it might be, Takato responded,

"Because if I'm late to school again I'll be in huge trouble for su-" He paused his sentence and actually looked next to him. "Guilmon?!"

The red dinosaur like Digimon smiled happily and waved his claw at him.

"Guilmon what are you doing here?! You know better than to follow me to school! Go back to the park until classes are over!" The smile Guilmon had on his face turned into a frown as he moved his claw to his stomach.

"I'm sorry Takato, but I could smell the bread and my stomach took over." Takato finally stopped running so his Digimon partner could catch up with him. He let out a small chuckle as he pulled his backpack off his shoulder and started to unzip it.

"You and your stomach Guilmon," He laughed as he searched through his bag. Guilmon waited patiently as Takato frantically searched around. A couple more seconds went by before he turned his bag upside down and shook it a few times.

"Is something wrong Takato?" Guilmon asked, cocking his head at the upside down bag. Takato let out a sigh as he looked over his shoulder back towards his house.

"Ah crap, I'm sorry Guilmon. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to put anything in my bag. I was up late doing homework and left my materials on my bed, and then I woke up late this morning and forgot to grab extra bread on the way out." He reached out and rubbed his friend on the snout. Guilmon's smile returned to his face once again as he felt the comfort of his tamer.

"That's okay Takato, I'll just go pick some berries from the bushes at the park." Guilmon happily laughed as he started to turn around.

"How about I bring you some bread after I get done with school? Do you think you can make it that long on just berries?" Takato jokingly poked fun at his appetite. Guilmon somehow managed to put an even bigger smile on his face.

"Really? You promise? Well okay, but don't forget!" He got ready to run back towards the park when he stopped and stuck his nose into the air. He sniffed a couple times, but then soon covered up his nose with both his claws. Takato took notice and imitated his actions, sticking his nose in the air. He sniffed a few times, but he didn't smell anything.

"What is it boy? What do you smell?" He asked.

"Ugh…it smells like your mother's flower bed…" Guilmon stepped backwards trying not to breathe through his nose. Over the last few years, Takato discovered that his partner did not like the smell of any kind of flower for some reason, but the two that really sent his senses into a whirl are tulips and roses. Neither of them were sure why, but to Guilmon they just gave off a disgusting scent. Taking this into consideration, Takato looked around but failed to see any kind of flower around here. There were a few dandelions that were sprouting out of the small cracks in the sidewalk, but that was about it. He was still looking around in confusion when he heard a voice call out to him.

"Gogglehead!" The voice shouted in the distance. Takato turned his attention to where the voice was coming from, and upon doing so he saw Rika running down the sidewalk, maybe even faster than he had been running earlier. He smiled and waved his hand at her, signaling her to come over to him.

Rika had changed a little over the years, mainly with the way her body had developed. Her lower body developed itself extremely well, but her top half was still lacking as her chest remained flat. She was still wearing her hair up like she always had, but her outfit had changed slightly. She now wore a light purple shirt that had a white center, resting in the middle of it was a picture of her trademarked broken heart. Even though she had grown up, she still favored the design. She also wore a pair of skinny jeans that wrapped tightly around her body, making sure to show off every curve that she had developed. She had on a pair of sport shoes, and a necklace in the shape of a heart around her neck.

"Hey Rika," Takato said, trying hard not to stare at how beautiful she was. She stopped running when she caught up to him, taking a few deep breaths afterwards. As she came to a halt, Takato could smell the scent she was carrying with her. It smelled like roses. And tulips. Takato let out a cough as he took a step away from her.

"What is that perfume you have on Rika? Ugh it smells-" Rika cut him off before he could finish.

"Awful? Yeah, I know. My sweet loving mother brought home a new line of perfume with her from the most recent fashion show she went to, and wouldn't let me leave the house this morning until I, quote, 'smelled like a lady.'"

"Well of all the things you smell like, I wouldn't put a lady at the top of the list," Takato joked as he smiled at her. She returned his smile with a glare that felt like it was piercing his body.

"Can it gogglehead." She grunted. After a few more chuckles from Takato, he invited Rika along with him since they were both going to the same place. She agreed and then they both waved goodbye to Guilmon as he began to make his way back to the park.

"You know, I'm surprised to see you running this late, normally you're one of the first people at the school. What's up with that?" Takato asked her. She got an annoyed look on her face as she pulled her bag off her shoulder and pulled out her digivice, showing it to Takato. Looking at it, the screen was going haywire, firing off number after number and making a lot of beeping sounds.

"My digivice started acting really weird last night, so when I got up this morning I stared messing with it and ended up losing track of time. I can't get this stupid thing to shut up! If it makes any more noise I'm officially deeming it worse than Kazu." Takato let out a chuckle at her remark.

"I see Kazu is still persistent as ever…but you're right, your digivice is acting pretty weird. Maybe it's like those new computer updates, I hear my dad complaining about those all the time. After class, if you want, we could-" he was cut off again, but this time it was by the sound of a bell ringing in the distance.

"Ah crap!" They both shouted in unison. They both immediately dropped their conversation and bolted down the sidewalk as fast as they could, praying that the teacher would have mercy on them. Rika should be okay since she was a straight A student, and had never missed a class. Takato on the other hand…well, let's just say that there are some things that not even four years can change.

They stormed into the school after a few minutes of running, and raced towards their classroom. They both paused outside the door to catch their breath for a second before letting out a deep sigh. Rika placed her hand on the door and then looked over to Takato, who nodded his head. He gulped down some air as she opened the door and they both stepped inside. All eyes in the room instantly shifted from the head of the classroom to the two of them.

"Ahhh, Miss Nonaka. So nice of you to join us. Oh? And is that Mr. Matsuki behind you?" The teacher looked at her, raising an eyebrow. The rest of the class let out a small chuckle as the two walked forward embarrassed.

"Sorry we're late Mr. Kosaka," They both said at the same time, bowing their heads before approaching his desk.

"Miss Nonaka, since this is your first offense I'll let you off with a warning. But you, Mr. Matsuki…how many times is it going to take before you learn to get to class on time?" Takato hung his head as he stumbled over his words.

"I'm sorry teacher, I- I mean sir, I mean, well uhm, you see what happened was-"

"It was my fault he was late," Rika said stepping forward so she was slightly in front of Takato. The teacher switched his eyes from Takato to Rika. "He would have been here on time, but I asked him for help with something." Rika knew she would regret taking the fall for Takato, but this just meant she had something to hold against him. The teacher switched his glance back and forth between them for a few seconds before letting out a sigh.

"Alright…there will be no detention, _this time_ , but do not let this happen again. Do you understand?" They both nodded their heads in response. "Good. Now then, take your seats and join the rest of us on page three hundred and ninety-four." He motioned them to return to their desks and then went back to the whiteboard, starting to scribble down a few notes for the class to take. As the two returned to their seats, Kazu leaned over to Kenta and whispered something to him.

"Man, Takato is so lucky. I bet him and Rika were totally making out." His voice had a hint of anger in it, and a lot of jealousy. Kenta chuckled a little at the obvious jealousy of Kazu.

"Anytime you see them together you always think that they are, or have been, making out. You know, one of these times that's going to be the reason and you're going to-"

"Shhhhh! Shut up Kenta! Don't speak such things!" Kenta laughed again as Kazu turned back towards the front of the room. Ever since they had joined the group as tamers, Kazu slowly started to develop a huge crush on Rika, but sometimes he could get carried away. Even though he's been shot down at every single turn, he still tries to win her over.

Most of the classes that day went by quickly, and soon it was the final one of the day. It was only halfway over, but Takato had already started to space out. He was reminiscing some of the previous battles that he and Guilmon had fought in and was thinking of different ways things could have played out. Henry, who sat right behind him, could see that he wasn't focused at all and kicked the back of his chair, snapping him back to reality.

"Earth to Takato, come in Takato," Henry chuckled, poking fun at him. Takato blinked a couple times and shook his head, as he must've really been out of it this time.

"Huh, wha? Oh. Hi Henry." He said casually as he turned around and waved at him. It was only for a second though, as he quickly turned his head back towards the front. He didn't need any more trouble today.

"Are you okay? You seem really out of it today, more than usual."

"Yeah I'm fine, just thinking about the past is all."

"Well don't think too much, it's dangerous for you." Henry laughed, as did Takato. Right as Takato went to respond, a very high pitched shriek filled the air of the classroom. It only lasted a couple seconds, but it was long enough for all the kids to drop their pencils and cover their ears. Takato and Henry included.

"Oww! What in the world was that?" Takato asked, looking around the room. Henry did a quick scan as well, when he noticed Rika searching through her backpack. She pulled out her digivice and gave it a few smacks on the side.

"Hey check it out Takato, its' Rika's digivice," Henry leaned forward and whispered to him. Takato looked over and blinked a couple times before looking back to Henry.

"Well thanks captain obvious, would you like your medal now or later?"

"No Takato, I mean it's her digivice that made that awful noise." Takato took another glance towards Rika. She was getting ready to put it back, when it let out another painful shrieking noise, causing everybody to cover their ears again.

"What's going on with it?" He asked Henry, hands over his ears.

"I'm not sure, but mine was doing the same thing a few nights ago. My dad has been looking into it for a bit to see if he could find anything, but I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet."

A few moments passed, but the noise didn't stop. Annoyed, Rika stood up out of her seat and tossed her backpack around her shoulder. She continued to smack the side of her digivice as she bolted out of the door.

"Miss Nonaka!" The teacher yelled out after her. Henry was next to stand up, picking up his stuff and following behind her, and Takato quickly followed behind him.

"Mr. Wong! Mr. Matsuki!" They ignored their teacher's shouts as they ran after Rika.

"Rika! Hey, wait up!" Henry shouted after her. She stopped in the hallway and turned to face the two boys. When they caught up with her, she had a very pissed off and annoyed expression on her face.

"What the hell is wrong with this thing?!" She yelled, holding her digivice in the air, practically shoving it in Henry's face.

"Hey, calm down. Mine has been doing the same thing. My father is looking into it right now, so why don't we just head back to my house and see if he's come up with anything?"

"And skip class? Yeah right!"

"Uhm, didn't we already kind of do that...?" Takato piped up quietly. Rika immediately shot him another death glare, silencing him instantly. "Yeah, yeah. Can it gogglehead, I know the drill." He backed away and silenced himself.

"He is right though; we've already left the classroom. If they ask what happened, we can just say it was an emergency. Besides, we- ahh!" Henry threw his hands over his ears as Rika's digivice let out another shriek. The annoying sound was becoming louder and louder each time it went off.

"Ugh, fine! Let's just get this stupid thing looked at," Rika said throwing her digivice into her pants pocket. The sound was muffled, but only slightly. There was still a ring filling the air, but it wasn't quite as bad as before.

The trio made their way to the front doors of the school, and upon stepping outside they were surprised to see all of their partners standing outside and waiting for them across the street.

"Guilmon?"

"Renamon?"

"Terriermon?" Each of them spoke the name of their partner as they stared across the street and looked at them. Something was off about them though. Guilmon was crouched in a pouncing position, letting out a growling sound towards the three of them. His eyes were fixed towards Rika, his pupil shrinking three times the normal size. Terriermon's ears were floating up in the air, and he had his fists up like was waiting to throw a punch. He let out a small growl as he stared down Rika as well. Even Renamon kept her eyes locked on her, the fur on her chest sticking out more than normal and her paws raised in a brawling stance.

"What's gotten into them? They look like they're ready to attack something," Henry leaned over and whispered to the other two. Rika took a step forward and shouted to Renamon.

"What's going on Renamon?"

"Something is coming," The fox Digimon replied firmly. Out of instinct, Rika pulled out her digivice, but upon looking at it she quickly remembered that it was acting weird. All of the Digimon across the street tensed up when she pulled it out. She put it back into her pocket after realizing it was basically useless though.

"I can't look to see if there's anything out there, this stupid thing is still going haywire," She said annoyed.

"I can't look either, mine is at home with my dad. Even if I had it though, I doubt it would be any help," Henry added. Afterwards, she turned her attention towards Takato.

"Hey goggles, your digivice isn't having any problems right?"

"You know Rika, I have a name." Rika clenched her fist.

"Now is not the time!

"Alright, alright! Geesh…" Takato sighed as he pulled out his digivice and scanned the area. They all were taken by surprise when they noticed a massive red dot coming from the park a little beyond the back the school.

"What is that?!" Rika asked nervously.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is…it's huge!" Henry replied just as worried. At this time Guilmon's growl started to intensify and it caught the attention of all of them.

"Takato, we need to go," Guilmon growled from across the street. Renamon and Terriermon nodded and growled in agreement. Takato slid his digivice back onto his belt and ran across the street to reunite with Guilmon. Henry and Rika followed behind him and did the same thing. Once they were all together, they began to run to where the red dot was located. All of the Digimon began to pick up the pace as they got closer to whatever was waiting for them. The closer they got to the park, a deep fog began to surround the area around them. Upon entering the park, the fog had become extremely dense. Dense enough that Takato slid down the goggles that were on his head. Rika and Henry pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on as well.

"Boy does this bring back memories," Takato said happily as the nostalgia began to overcome him.

"Just like old times," Henry chimed in, smiling as well.

"It's about time. It was starting to get boring around here," Rika added. They took a few more steps, but then all of the Digimon stopped. They had run to the center of the park near the fountain. All of the Digimon braced themselves and growled as they stared into the fog in front of them. The tamers followed their Digimon's line of sight, but they didn't see anything. After a few seconds though, they could make out a very tall and lanky figure walking towards them from the fog. Guilmon growled intensely at whatever was walking towards them. Terriermon and Renamon did the same. It had two bright yellow eyes and they seemed to break through the fog with no problems at all, and it was staring right at them.

"Oh shoot!" Henry shouted, a bit of panic in his voice.

"What's wrong Henry?" Takato asked him.

"Since I don't have my digivice with me, I won't be able to digivolve Terriermon at all! My house isn't too far from here, I'll have to run home and get it. Hopefully Dad has something figured out by now too. Just hold out for a bit guys, I'll be back!" Henry turned and began to run towards his house without giving the others a chance to respond.

"Henry wait!" Takato tried to shout after him, but it was too late, he was already gone.

"It's coming Takato!" Guilmon growled as it hopped out of the way to avoid a sword that had been sent flying towards him. The sword pierced into a rock that was behind him, the pommel of the blade in the shape of a diamond.

"So, you're the newest targets huh?" The voice laughed from the fog. It was very light sounding, but something about it definitely sounded evil. As the figure took a few more steps towards them, another sword was thrown. This time it was tossed at Renamon. She quickly stepped out of the way, but the sword managed to cut off a few pieces of fur as it flew passed her and impaled itself into a tree, the pommel of this one had the shape of a heart. "I've been given another chance, and this time I will not lose to a bunch of kids and their pet Digimon!" As the figure behind the voice stepped out of the fog, Takato took a step back in fear.


	2. The Fools Return

Chapter Two

The Fools Return

Henry ran as fast as he could back to his house, but it seemed like his feet couldn't move fast enough.

" _Why didn't I bring my bike?_ " He thought to himself as he bolted across the streets of the Shinjuku district. His house wasn't that much farther, but given the situation it felt like it was miles away. He kept taking glances behind him, and could see that the fog was slowly starting to spread. He hoped that whatever was in there, the others could hold it off until he got back. He felt bad for just taking off and leaving them like that, especially Terriermon, but without his Digivice, there's nothing he could do.

As time went on, seconds felt like minuets, and minuets felt like hours. Soon enough though, he made it home. He slammed open the front door, and bolted into his father's room. Being out of breath, he began to pant heavily as he looked around for his father.

"Dad!" He yelled, throwing his hands on his knees. Janyu looked to his son, and a look of concern overcame him as he watched Henry pant heavily.

"Are you okay Henry?" He asked, his voice filled with worry.

"I'm fine, I just need my Digivice," Henry replied, his breaths still heavy and spaced out.

"Yes of course, but first there's something I need to show you."

"Can it wait Dad? My friends need me right now!"

"This is important Henry," Janyu looked into his son's eyes, and Henry could tell he was serious. Henry nodded his head, and walked up behind his father.

"I had your digivice hooked up to the computer in my office to try and get a look at its data programing, when I stumbled across this," Janyu moved his cursor across the screen but stopped it when he came across a certain file hidden in the numbers. When he double clicked the file, it opened up and revealed an AI program inside.

"Wait, is that…?!" Henry gasped, his eyes widening.

"Yes. It's the same AI program that we used when we created the Digimon. Something inside these digivices has a mind of its own." Henry took a step away from the computer, unsure of how to process the new information. "That's not all, look at this here," He moved the mouse cursor around and pulled up a number sequence from a file. The numbers were moving extremely fast, just like they had been doing on Rika's digivice earlier.

"Well I'm looking, but it's all moving so fast, I can't see anything," Henry said, as he leaned back in and squinted at the computer.

"At first glance it's difficult to see, but look closer. You see how all these numbers are green? If you concentrate, occasionally you can see a black number slipping by in the sequence. From what I've observed and learned so far, I'm thinking that the digivice has a virus inside it."

"A virus?! How in the world can a digivice get a virus?!"

"I'm not sure to tell you the truth, but I'm thinking those awful shrieking noises you keep hearing is the digivice's way of crying out. The virus is attacking it and it's trying to get your attention. I believe that the numbers are moving so fast along the screen because it's constantly trying to write a new program to kick the virus out, but the virus is somehow managing to keep up. Until I can look into it further, I'd be careful about digivolving. Who knows what could happen," As he finished his sentence, he unplugged the digivice from the computer and handed it to his son.

"Thanks Dad, you're the best!" Henry grabbed the digivice from him and started to run back out of the room. Just before he left the house, his dad had appeared from out of his room and hollered at him.

"Wait! Did you run here?"

"Yes, why?" Henry looked towards his dad with a puzzled expression.

"Here," Janyu reached into his coat pocket and tossed Henry a set of keys. Looking closer at them, Henry realized they were the car keys. He looked back up to his dad who just winked at him. "Don't tell your mother." He smiled as Henry ran back and gave him a hug. Afterwards, he turned and bolted out of the house once again. "Be careful!" He yelled out after him.

Henry quickly got into the family car and started it up. He squealed the tires as he backed out of the drive way. He slammed his foot on the gas and took off towards the park.

" _Hang on guys, I'm on my way,_ " The thought raced through his mind as the car raced down the street.

The evil Digimon took a few more steps towards the remaining two tamers, laughing as he did so.

"What's the matter little boy? Don't you like magic tricks! Ha ha ha!" The Digimon continued to laugh. Rika looked over to Takato, his face was exreremely pale and he looked just as nervous.

"Hey, gogglehead! What's the matter with you? You look like you just saw a ghost!" She yelled at him. Takato snapped back to reality and looked back at her.

"Do you not know who that Digimon is Rika?" She looked over towards the tall, clown looking Digimon.

"Not everybody is as big of a Digidork as you are, so spill the beans! Who is this clown?" Takato turned back towards the Digimon.

"It's Piedmon."

Just as Takato spoke his name, the evil clown stepped towards them, wielding two more swords in his hands. One of them had a club shaped pommel, and the other had a spade.

"You say that like I should be scared or something," She paused and looked away from Takato, turning her attention to her partner. "Renamon, walk all over him."

"It'll be my pleasure," The fox replied. She jumped into the air and held her paws out in front of her. "Diamond storm!" She shouted. As she did, hundreds of small, sharp, diamond shaped crystals appeared in front of her and launched themselves at Piedmon.

"Help her out Guilmon! Go get him!" Takato shouted.

"Whatever you say Takatomon," Guilmon replied. "Pyro sphere!" The red dinosaur charged up a ball of fire in his mouth and then fired it at Piedmon. Both attacks hit it directly, but all it did was turn his smile into a frown.

"Annoying little pests. Be gone! Trump Sword!" He tossed both swords that were in his hands, and this time they connected with their targets. The impact sent the two rookies flying across the park, bouncing a few times on the ground before coming to a stop.

"Guilmon!"

"Renamon!" The two tamers called for their partners as they watched them get smacked away.

"Hey! Don't forget about me, you circus reject!" Terriermon yelled, jumping into the face of Piedmon. "Bunny blast!" The small rabbit like creature fired a green energy blast at him, but it was about as effective as the others. Piedmon retaliated by smacking Terriermon away with a swipe of his hand. The impact sent him flying as well, but he was caught by the waiting stomach of Guilmon.

"For being a clown, he sure isn't very funny," Terriermon mumbled, his eyes spinning and his voice distraught.

"Ha ha! Oh please tell me there's more than that! If not, I will truly be disappointed. Here I was thinking that you little twerps would actually put up a good fight, but I guess your friend here might've been a better challenge after all," Piedmon laughed as he raised his hand and began twirling two keychains around his index finger.

"Th- that can't be!" Takato said, a very cold chill running down his spine.

"N- no way…" Rika mumbled as she looked in disbelief. Twirling around his finger were two keychains that looked just like Ryo and Cyberdramon.

"Don't look so sad, you'll be joining them shortly!" Piedmon smirked as he hooked the keychains around his waist.

"There's no way we're letting you take this win without giving it our all! And once we beat you and send you back to whatever twisted world you came from, we'll get our friends back to normal!" Takato shouted pulling out his digivice. "You ready Rika?" He glanced over to her. She smiled back at him, digivice already in hand.

"Oh yeah," She replied with confidence. Just as they got ready to start their digivolution, they were stopped by a car driving through the park and screeching to a halt next to them. The driver's side door quickly opened, and Henry came stepping out.

"Wait! Don't use your digivice, something is wrong with them!" Takato and Rika looked to each other, and then back to Henry, lowering their digivices.

"What do you mean somethings wrong?" Takato asked him.

"I'm not entirely sure, but my Dad thinks that they could be infected with a virus. I can explain the details later, but right now the point I'm trying to make is that digivolving right now could be dangerous!"

"Well we have to do something! They're sitting ducks out there!' Rika yelled. Henry looked to the battlefield for the first time, noticing what they were up against.

"I- is that Piedmon?!" He asked nervously.

"Yeah, it is, and he has Ryo and Cyberdramon! He turned them into keychains and is wearing them around his waist!" Takato replied. Henry shifted his eyes from Piedmon to the injured Digimon trio that was struggling to stay standing, even though they had only been hit by one attack.

"What happened to them?!"

"He's taken a total of five steps and completely trashed our Digimon! He's way to powerful to fight as a rookie, they need to digivolve!" Takato tried to plead his case to Henry.

"Screw that, we need to biomerge!" Rika shouted, butting in.

"No! My Dad said it's too dangerous to do a normal digivolution, let alone try a biomerge!"

"What choice do we have Henry?! Piedmon is a mega level Digimon! Rookie form is nowhere near strong enough, we need to fight fire with fire!" Rika stopped and looked at Henry for a few seconds. He was gritting his teeth and clenching his fist as he realized their options were limited. His thoughts were cut short though when Rika spoke up again.

"I'm not waiting any longer. Renamon! Let's do this! Digi-modify! Biomerge activate!" As she spoke the words, Renamon floated up into the air and a bubble was formed around her and Rika.

 **BIOMERGE DIGIVOUTION**

 _ **Renamon biomerge to…Sakuyamon!**_

Piedmon let out a laugh as the newly formed mega stepped onto the battlefield.

"Finally! I was wondering how long it would take!" He paused and looked beyond Sakuyamon, staring at Henry and Takato. "What's the matter, your friends to scared to fight? They had to send in the girl? Ha! It doesn't matter, you'll all be keychains for my collection soon enough!" Piedmon took a step forward, calling all of his swords back to him.

"Do you feel okay Renamon?" Rika asked from inside Sakuyamon.

"Like a basket of roses," The fox replied. Just as they were about to begin their assault, a voice spoke to them.

"Don't interfere…" A low growl echoed around the inside of Sakuyamon. Immediately upon hearing this noise, Rika's eyes grew wide and her body started to tremble. The voice mimicked the one she heard in her dream almost perfectly. Her body became unresponsive as the voice continued to bounce around in her mind.

Outside though, the battle was still continuing, and Rika felt it the moment a sword came flying at her and smashed into her and Sakuyamon's body. The blade sent her flying across the park, crashing into the fountain that was in the center.

"Rika!" Takato and Henry shouted.

Back inside Sakuyamon, Rika let out a grunt as she felt herself get hit with the attack. She laid on her back inside her bubble and stared upwards, her eyes growing wide once more when a tiny jellyfish Digimon came floating down from the space above her. The Keramon made its way onto the top of her bubble and pressed its face up against the data shield. Horrible flashbacks of the nightmare she had last night were coming back. The Keramon just waved back and forth in place for a few moments before it began to attempt to force its face against through bubble. Rika's breathing started to intensify as the closer this Digimon got, the scarier and creepier it became. She could see the bubble around her start to flicker as the Keramon began to inch its way inside. It didn't take long before it's head was inside, and its mouth slowly started to open. Rika instantly tossed her hands over her ears and she closed her eyes, fearing what was coming next. There was a scream that came from the Keramon, but it wasn't the horrible shrieking noise that she expected, it was a sound of pain.

She opened her eyes to find out that the Keramon had been yanked out of the bubble by a young boy who was standing just outside. He looked like he was around her age, and had short and spikey brown hair. He was dressed in a plain black T-shirt with a pair of khaki shorts. He was currently standing outside the bubble and holding onto the Keramon by the bottom half of its body, its head facing downwards. It was squirming and struggling to get out of this boys grip, but to no avail.

"Don't interfere…" The deep voice growled again, echoing around inside the body of Sakuyamon. Both Rika and this boy looked around, but failed to see anything. With the Keramon squirming becoming a nuisance, the boy grabbed hold of it with his other hand and tore it in half. The Keramon dissolved into data and the two remaining people locked eyes.

"Who…are you?" Rika asked hesitantly, picking herself back up so she was on her feet. The boy smiled a very comforting smile at her as he lowered herself to be on eye level with her. Before she could say anything, the inside setting they were in shook violently. Rika let out a grunt of pain and grasped onto her stomach.

Back outside, Piedmon had made his way over to her and landed on top of her, his feet digging into her gut. Sakuyamon grunted in pain as she grabbed hold of Piedmon's foot, trying to push it off of her. The evil clown laughed as her struggles were futile.

Takato grit his teeth and clenched his digivice, he couldn't watch this any longer. He took off running towards Piedmon, turning his head and glancing at Guilmon.

"Let's go boy! Digi-modify! Biomerge activate!" Takato held up his digivice as a bubble formed around him and his partner.

 **BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION**

 _ **Guilmon biomerge to…Gallantmon!**_

The new Digimon planted his feet into the ground and then took charge at Piedmon. He raised up his lance and lunged at him. The attack collided with two of the clown's swords, but Gallantmon was able to shove him off Sakuyamon at least.

"Add this one to your book of tricks!" Gallantmon shouted as he pulled back his lance and held up his shield. "Shield of the just!" As he shouted, his shield began to glow, a white circle charging around it. It only took a second for it to become fully charged, and when it was, a powerful laser blasted out of the shield and crashed into Piedmon, sending him flying backwards a bit. Gallantmon used this time to kneel down next to the injured Sakuyamon.

"Rika! Hey, talk to me, are you guys okay?" Takato's voice overtook Guilmons as he spoke to Sakuyamon. Rika could hear his voice call to her from inside Sakuyamon, and she looked over to see Gallantmon standing above her.

"I'm fine," She grunted as Gallantmon pulled her back up to her feet. She almost fell over instantly though, luckily his reflexes were quick and he was able to catch her hold her upright.

"You don't look so fine," The knight Digimon said to her.

"I don't understand… He's only hit me twice but I feel like I got run over by a train. Something is wrong here," Rika said from within Sakuyamon, her free arm wrapping around her stomach while her other arm held onto Gallantmon.

"You guys look out! He's coming back!" Henry's voice shouting from across the park broke up their conversation. They both glanced back towards the direction Piedmon was, but it was just as the clown took a sword and thrust it into the chest of Gallantmon.

"Ahhh!" Gallantmon screamed in pain, his voice equally mixed with Takato and Guilmon. The impact caused him to let go of Sakuyamon, dropping her down to just one knee. Piedmon withdrew his sword and grabbed Gallantmon by the helmet. Almost with ease, he lifted the knight up off his feet and began twirling him around.

"Round and round the stupid pest goes! Where he stops, nobody knows! Ha ha ha!" Piedmon laughed as he continued to spin Gallantmon around. He finally let him go after a few seconds, and he tossed him sky high into the air.

"Oh no, Takato!" Henry yelled as he watched his friend get thrown into the sky. He reactively looked over to Terriermon who had his fists up and was looking back at him with a determined look in his eyes.

"Let's go Henry!" Terriermon shouted jumping into the air.

"Alright! Digi-modify! Biomerge activate!"

 **BIOMERGE DIGIVOLUTION**

 _ **Terriermon biomerge to…MegaGargomon!**_

The giant mechanical robot bunny emerged onto the battlefield and launched itself into the sky, catching the flying Gallantmon.

"Gotcha!" MegaGargomon said, landing back on his feet and setting Gallantmon onto the ground.

"Thanks Henry," Takato said, crossing one arm over his stomach where he had been impaled.

"No problem, but we need to figure out something to take down Piedmon. He's just toying with us!" Henry replied, a scowl coming across his face. They both looked back towards the clown, who was just standing there with his arms crossed and a smile across his face.

"Finally! I was beginning to think you wouldn't biomerge at all! Ha ha!" Piedmon laughed as he called back his swords and sheathed them into the box on his back. He waited a few more seconds before raising his hands up into the sky, laughing even harder than he had been. "Now Diaboromon!" As he shouted that sentence, a very low toned laugh began to echo around in the fog that surrounded them. Rika recognized this as the same voice that she had heard in her dream, and just now inside Sakuyamon.

"Viomerge…activate…" The voice growled. The three tamers looked around, frantically searching the fog, but then those who were still standing were instantly brought down to their knees. Static began to spark from their bodies and their digital form began to flicker. Each of them let out a scream of pain as they could feel their mega forms being forcefully pulled apart. The same bubble that appeared around them when they started the biomerge was now forming again, and after a couple seconds, the tamers and Digimon were pulled apart. In the place where their megas once stood, was now a black digiegg. Piedmon quickly dashed across the field and collected each of the eggs before he turned and made his way towards the very edge of the park.

"I do hate to leave you so soon my pets, but don't worry, I'll be back to finish the job! But for now, this is just a sweet farewell, ha ha ha ha!" The evil clown Digimon walked into the fog, twirling the Ryo and Cyberdramon keychains around his finger as he did so. After taking a few steps away from them he, and the fog, disappeared.

Each of the three tamers remained standing in silence, clenching onto various parts of their bodies, unable to understand what just happened. Their Digimon partners stood next to them, in the same condition. Nobody knew what to say, a situation like this hasn't happened to them in a very long time. How could they be so powerless when they were all fighting in their strongest form? Whatever had just happened to them though, they each had a horrible feeling this was only the beginning.


	3. The Magicians Trick

Chapter three

The Magician's Trick

"What…just happened to us?" Takato was the one to finally break the silence that loomed in the park. He looked over to Rika who was on his left, but she didn't say anything, she just continued staring out straight ahead, looking to where the fog once was. He then turned over to Henry who was directly to his right, only a few steps away. Henry had his hand under his chin, trying to replay the scenario that just unfolded.

"Well…" Henry started to say. He paused for a few more seconds as he collected his thoughts. "I'm not sure what happened, but whatever it was, it happened as soon as we all biomerged. My Dad did say that he thought the digivices might have a virus, that could explain why we felt so fatigued during the fight. I can't say for sure though, I say we just go back to my place and let him look into it a little more." Henry stopped and looked to Takato. He simply nodded his head before turning to his red dinosaur companion, patting him on the snout. Henry then looked over to Rika, who was still staring out into space. After a couple seconds of silence again, Takato also turned his attention over towards her, this time he began moving towards her as well.

"Hey, are you okay…?" He asked hesitantly. Hearing his voice this time snapped her out of whatever daze she was in as she turned her head over her shoulder and looked Takato in the eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She replied coldly. She picked up her feet and started walking, brushing past Takato without exchanging another word. Takato followed behind her, a small frown appearing on his face as he received the cold shoulder from Rika.

Henry had gone over to Terriermon and picked him up, placing him on top of his head. He then looked over his shoulder to see if his friends were coming, and then stepped inside of the vehicle. Terriermon quickly jumped off Henry's head and into the passenger seat of the car.

"Terriermon…" Henry sighed as he watched his selfish bunny partner grab the seat belt and buckle himself in.

"Safety first!" The tiny troublemaker replied with a content smile on his face. Takato, who had planned on sitting in the backseat anyways, opened the backdoor and was about to step inside when he felt a small claw tug on his shirt.

"Can I sit by the window Takatomon?" Guilmon looked to his tamer with a baby like face as he asked his question. Takato smiled and gave out a slight chuckle as he removed his foot from out of the car so his partner could squeeze by.

"You just want to growl at all the squirrels we pass by don't you?" Takato chuckled again as Guilmon put a grin on his face and wagged his tail a couple times. He quickly crawled into the car and made himself comfortable next to the window as Takato took off his backpack and set it down in the legroom space behind the seat. Afterwards, he stepped inside behind his Digimon partner.

Rika, who had originally wanted to sit in the passenger seat, had made her over to the side where Guilmon and Takato had entered from. She had an annoyed look on her face as she couldn't understand why the tiniest creature out of all of them decided he needed the front seat all to himself. She followed after Takato and took a seat next to him, her fox partner stepping inside after her and shutting the door behind her. The four of them were pretty scrunched in the back of this car, each one of them shoulder to shoulder. Henry gave a glance into his rearview mirror and a faint smile appeared in the corner of his mouth as he realized he lucked out by being the one in the driver's seat. He started the car and put it in reverse, taking them back out of the park and onto the street.

"It should only take a few minutes to get back to my place, so just hold out back there okay guys?" Henry chuckled again as he turned his attention from the mirror back to the road in front of him.

They had only been on the road for a few seconds before the nasal voice of Guilmon spoke up.

"Takato…" The Dinosaur whined, his claws over his nose. Takato, who had taken a deep breath in the moment Rika had sat next to him, moved his hand over and patted the leg of Guilmon a couple times.

"I know boy. I know," Takato replied, his voice straining for air. The wonderful scent of Rika's perfume was back in full force, even stronger this time around since they were so close together. He attempted to nonchalantly reach over across Guilmon and put his hand on the button to lower the window, but Rika took notice of his movements and spoke up.

"What's the matter gogglehead? Afraid I'm gonna bite?" He was about halfway to the button when Rika had said something. He jumped slightly and quickly returned to his original position. His face was in discomfort and the color was slowly starting to change.

"N-nope! Everything is A-Okay!" He gave her a thumbs up and attempted to crack a smile, but the moment he did, he instantly tried to close his mouth back shut. But it was too late, he lost his self-control and took in a deep inhale, resulting in a few coughs immediately afterwards. Rika blankly looked back to him, not saying anything. His face suddenly turned bright red as he waved his hands back and forth in a panic. "Nothing is wrong I swear! I- I must've just swallowed a bug! Yeah, that's it, totally swallowed a bug!" As he ended his sentence he brought one of his hands up and rubbed the back of his head, flashing Rika a very cheeky smile. A small smile of her own appeared in the corner of her mouth as she looked away from Takato and out the front window.

"Didn't we already establish this morning that this perfume is disgusting? I hate it just as much, if not more, than you do," She paused and glanced back towards him. "Just be glad you're not the one wearing it." She was about to go back to looking away from him when an idea came across her mind.

"I- Well, uhm… It's not so bad once you get used to it you know? I think- wait, Rika what are you doing?" His thought process got derailed as he watched her slip her hands back up behind her hair and grab hold of the hair tie that was keeping it all in place. Once she had a good grip on it, she pulled it out, letting her hair flow down. She didn't like her hair too long, but just beyond the shoulders was perfect for her. She then leaned in a little closer towards Takato and began shaking her hair furiously. The overwhelming stench of the perfume that had been contained by her ponytail had been released in full and it quickly overcame Takato and Guilmon. Their faces turned pale as Takato quickly reached over his partner and mashed the button to put the window down. He was met with an unfortunate clicking noise as he did so, and the window didn't budge at all.

"Don't you hate those child safety locks?" Terriermon spoke up, one paw plugging his nose and a smile across his face.

"It really is a shame isn't it?" Henry replied, mimicking the bunny's actions. Without thinking, or hesitation, Takato turned his body around and lunged to the other side of the backseat. He stretched his body out across Rika and Renamon and began mashing the button on their side, but he had no luck over there either. Renamon looked down towards her lap and made a 'hmph' noise as she moved her paw to Takato's face and pushed him backwards. He was stopped by Rika before he made it all the way back though, her hand resting against the back of his head. She tilted his face so that he was looking up at her

"Did I ever tell you how much of a pal you are Takato?" She laughed as she pulled her head closer to his, dangling her hair in front of his face. She intentionally moved her head from side to side, wafting the scent around. The look of disgust on his face evolved to a new level as he became visibly ill.

"R- Rika! Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick…" Rika pulled her face away and instantly shoved him back over towards Guilmon as the goggle headed boy made a disgusting gagging noise. Takato leaned his head onto Guilmon's shoulder and fought desperately to keep his lunch down. Rika smiled and laughed as she crossed her legs and gave Takato a pat on the back.

"Maybe you should pick up swimming. You've already got the goggles for it, and it would help you hold your breath longer." She let out a few more chuckles before her arms joined her legs in the crossed position. Takato didn't say anything back to her, he just groaned and clenched onto his already hurting stomach.

A few more minutes went by before they reached their destination. The car pulled into the driveway of the Wong's house and came to a slow stop. Henry turned the key and pulled it out of the ignition before stepping out of the vehicle. He walked over to the backdoor and pulled on the handle that was on Rika's side. Renamon stepped outside first, reaching back and lending her paw to her tamer and pulling her out next. Once she was out, Takato and Guilmon came barreling out behind her, both of them taking rapid breaths as they sprawled their bodies out across the lawn.

"Oh sweet smell of grass, I promise I'll never try and eat you again!" Guilmon proclaimed as he sniffed the yard, a few blades tickling the inside of his nostrils. Rika rolled her eyes and started to walk behind Henry, towards the front door of his house.

After taking a few more moments to enjoy the fresh air, Takato rose to his feet and bent down to help Guilmon up as well. He grabbed his bag from out of the car and then the two followed suit and joined the others at the front door. Henry was the first to step inside, slipping his shoes off as he did so.

"Dad! I'm back! Takato and Rika are here too!" Henry shouted. The other two took their shoes off as well, taking small glances around the house as they had only ever been inside it a few times. It took a few seconds, but finally Janyu emerged from his office, flashing a friendly smile towards the tamers.

"Ah, welcome back Son. Greetings to you two as well," He brought up his hand and waved it at them. Takato smiled and waved back, while Rika simply lifted a few of her fingers off of her arm and made a peace sign towards him. "So how did things go Henry?" He averted his gaze back to his son, his eyes becoming soft as each of the Tamers facial expressions changed into a defeated state.

"Not so well. We ended up running into Piedmon, a mega level Digimon who wanted nothing but trouble. He was too strong for us to fight as rookies so we ended up biomerging, and that's when everything went wrong. I think the virus slowed us down and made us more fatigued than usual, but that's not even the worse part. Once we were all in our biomerged states, a low toned laugh came from the fog that was surrounding the park and it mumbled something that sounded like 'viomerge' and after that we were all kicked out of our mega forms and some kind of black egg was created in our place. Before we could do anything he picked up all the eggs and disappeared into the fog, not leaving any kind of trace he was ever there in the first place." Janyu raised a hand to his chin, taking a moment to process this information.

"Don't forget he also kidnapped Ryo and Cyberdramon!" Takato exclaimed, butting into the conversation. This took Janyu by surprise as he gasped and looked to his son for confirmation. Henry nodded his head and looked away from his Dad, the feeling of guilt creeping up on him. "That stupid clown turned them into keychains and is wearing them around his waist! We've got to figure out a way to rescue them!" Takato became passionate as he spoke. Much like normal, his concern for his friends took over and controlled his judgement.

"I know Takato, but we need to have a plan first! It's not like we can just walk back into the digital world, in fact, we're not even sure that's where they went! Let's have my Dad spend a little more time with our Digivices and see if maybe he can figure something out." Henry retaliated. He also had concern for Ryo's safety, but logic had to come first, it was just how his mind operated. Takato grit his teeth and clenched his fists, but he knew this time, that Henry was right. Even though he wanted to go looking for him, he didn't have any idea where to start. Janyu walked over to Takato and placed his hand on his shoulder, releasing some of the tension Takato had in his body.

"I understand how you feel Takato, but Henry is right. Give me just a little more time to look at your Digivices, I might find some answers to the questions you have." Takato let out a sigh as his shoulders loosened up and slugged down. He felt a small sense of comfort as another hand came and lightly bopped him on the back of his head.

"We'll get them back goggles, don't worry," Rika said, her voice softer than normal.

"Yeah, you guys are right. We'll take it one step at a time and make sure we know what we're doing," Takato's sour mood turned around and a smile appeared on his face once again as he looked around to his friends.

"Wow, how mature of you goggles," Rika teased him with a slight chuckle. A small blush appeared on his cheeks as he averted his gaze from hers.

"Well, that being said I have an odd request from each of you, well excluding Henry I suppose," Janyu said, placing his hands back into his coat pockets. Each of the tamers looked to him, a puzzled expression on their faces. "I was hoping that since it's the start of the weekend, I could have each of you stay the night here tonight. I would like to look at each of your Digivices, and I'd feel a lot better having you within a few feet of them rather than across town, just in case something like what happened today happens again. Suzie and the wife are out of town currently and Henry is the only other child still living at home so we'd have plenty of room to house you if you would stay. What do you say?" He looked to Takato, and then to Rika. The three tamers each exchanged a glance with one another before turning back to Janyu.

"Well sure! It's been awhile since I've stayed over here, and besides, I think that makes the most sense. I'll have to run home still and make sure my mom and dad know where I am, and I'll also probably pick up a pair of clothes for tomorrow as well," Takato replied happily.

"I mean, I guess I could ask my mom. She'll probably throw a fit though; I can't see requesting a slumber party with two boys going over very well with her," Rika leaned her back against the wall, her arms still crossed as she puzzled the thought. Henry and Takato blushed a little, not even thinking about that being a problem.

"Well, you guys get to it and let me know. I'll get some dinner started while you're gone, at the very least I hope you can at least come back for a meal." After finishing his sentence Janyu turned his back to them and wandered off into the kitchen, flicking on the light and meandering through the various pots and pans that were in a cupboard. After he left, Takato stretched out his arms and went to slip his shoes back on, a small yawn escaping from his mouth.

"You want to walk with me back to my house Rika?" Takato asked, his heel falling into place in his shoe. Rika made her way over to him and put her shoes back on as well.

"I guess I could. My house is in that direction anyways," She paused and opened up the front door, taking a step outside. "Well, come on! We don't have all day." She left the door open as she started to walk away. Takato was about to run out behind her when he felt a nudge on his shoulder.

"Good luck with that one," Henry teased, giving a slight wink to Takato. Takato's face lit up, his cheeks becoming a bright red.

"W- what are you talking about? W- we're just going to our houses and back, that's all!" Takato didn't wait for Henry to respond, he quickly bolted out the door and slammed it shut behind him, leaving Henry, Guilmon, and Terriermon behind. Renamon had secretly slipped herself outside almost instantly after Rika and was currently in an invisible state. Takato's emotions had gotten the better of him in that situation as he didn't even realize he slammed the door in Guilmon's face.

 _Stupid Henry… what did he even mean by 'Good luck with that one'? I- it's not like it's just the two of us…out together…alone…_ Takato shook his head back and forth, breaking his thought process. His thoughts quickly came back to him though when he looked in front of him and saw Rika walking, her body swaying left and right with each step. She had her hands tucked away in her jean pockets, and her hair was still put down, blowing gently in the wind. Every now and again she would have to remove one her hands from her pocket to push the hair out of her face, scrunching her nose and looking annoyed each time.

"…Star struck are we?" A lower toned female voice said, popping out of nowhere next to Takato. Even though she spoke in a hushed tone, it still made Takato jump to the side, frightened by the sudden appearance of the yellow fox Digimon.

"Renamon?! When did you get here?" Takato said back to her, straining his voice but keeping it down to a whisper.

"I've been here the entire time, observing from the shadows. No matter how long I stay in your world, you humans continue to amuse me." Renamon let out a small chuckle before vanishing out of sight once again. Rika finally glanced over her shoulder, an annoyed expression on her face as she slowed down her walking pace.

"Hurry up gogglehead! You walk slower than my grandma," She shouted back to him. Takato picked up his speed until he was next to her. He looked over to say something, but refrained himself when he saw her blow a piece of hair out of her face and angrily push it behind her ear. "Ugh! Sometimes I think I should just cut it all off!" Takato laughed at her frustration, instantly earning him one of her signature death glares. He stopped his laugh when her eyes met his and just smiled at her instead.

"Here, maybe this will help," Takato said reaching into his pocket and pulling out the hair tie Rika was using earlier in the car. She was a little surprised that he had picked it up and wasn't sure how to respond at first. She had just assumed she had lost another one.

"Thanks, but you know I have like a million of these at home right? I would've been fine until we got there." She was still trying to sound prideful, but she didn't decline his gift. She took the hair tie from his hand and held onto it in her mouth as she started pulling her hair back and getting it styled in its normal ponytail fashion.

"Well, now you have a million and one," Takato chuckled and smiled at her again, returning his hand to his side. Rika let out a small laugh also as she finished tying her hair back up.

 _Alright Takato, now's your chance. Just play it cool and start up a normal conversation. Okay, I can do this. I can do this!_ He could feel his heart rate start to pick up a little as he struggled to find something to say. As much as he wanted the words to just come out of his mouth, something inside his mind was preventing him from doing so. Takato hadn't had the best of luck with the ladies over the years. Around a couple years after the D-reaper incident, he finally confessed his feelings to Jeri, but she didn't return them. She told him that she was sorry but her heart belonged to somebody else.

After being shot down by her, he didn't really have the motivation to pursue anybody else. That is, of course, until he and Rika started to spend more time together. Just within this last year he started noticing things about her that he really admired. Being a teenage boy, obviously some of those things were her physical traits, but it was a lot more than just that. She had started teaching him some of the tricks and combos that she knew about the Digimon card game, usually making time once or twice a week to give him some lessons. If he struggled with any of the homework, Rika was always the first person he went to for help. Even spending time together with the group felt different, Rika was always the one who stood out the most to him. He's been trying for a while to attempt to talk to her about his feelings, but just like now, he can never find the words. He's not sure if he's scared to ask, or if he's just nervous. Part of him deeply wants to know how she feels and what goes on through her mind, but part of him doesn't want to know. What if it was just another rejection? Sure he was only sixteen, and plenty of other girls would cross his path, but none of them would ever be like Rika. There was just something about her that caught his attention and wouldn't let go. She was perfect in his eyes.

A couple minutes of silence had gone by as Takato still struggled to find the right thing to say. Rika, who had taken notice, glanced over at him and watched his eyes as they looked into the ground, lightly shifting back and forth. Occasionally his mouth would open up, but nothing would come out and he would close it just as fast as it opened.

"Something on your mind goggles?" She asked, removing her gaze from him and back to the sidewalk in front of her. Takato quickly straightened out his posture, fumbling over his words as he gave an answer.

"N- nope! Not a thing!" He paused and brought his hand up to his head, knocking on it a few times. "Empty as always!" He laughed awkwardly, bringing his hand back down to his side. He closed his eyes for a moment and lightly grit his teeth, instantly realizing how much of a fool he probably just looked like.

"Alright, if you say so," She stopped her sentence, originally she planned on leaving it at that, but after a deep inhale and exhale she continued on. "There is something on my mind though." Takato looked and blinked at her a couple times, wondering what she was going to say. His heart started to beat a little faster and a million thoughts came running through his mind.

"What's up?" He placed his right hand inside his pocket, letting the other one dangle at his side. Rika took a few moments before finally speaking up.

"Well…last night I had a really weird dream. It was like I was biomerged with Renamon, but I couldn't see anything around me and it felt like I was underwater. I could hear this really deep sounding laughter coming from the distance, a laughter that I'm now a hundred percent sure belonged to Diaboromon. I tried calling out to it, but it just kept repeating the same sentence over and over again. 'Don't interfere' 'Don't interfere' it's all the stupid thing kept saying! It was driving me crazy, so I finally just closed my eyes and covered my ears until it stopped. When I opened my eyes again, the water that was around me turned to complete darkness and there was now a Keramon standing above me. It didn't say anything, but it did try to force its way into my shield. Before it came all the way through though, it opened its mouth and let out a horrible shriek, and at that point I woke up. Whatever sound that thing made, it was the same sound that my Digivice kept making." Rika stopped walking for a second as her body shivered. Flashbacks of the Keramon's face kept popping into her head. Takato just stood there as well, this wasn't at all what he was thinking she was going to say.

"Are you okay?" Takato asked softly. The words seemed to just slip out of his mouth, almost like an instinctive reaction. She looked to him with one eyebrow raised and a confused look on her face.

"Are your goggles on to tight? It was just a dream, of course I'm okay." Even Takato was unsure why he asked her that, he knew that she was fine. He could clearly see that she wasn't hurt or anything, but his body just acted without thinking. Listening to her story, he knew that if it were him in that situation, he would probably be a little frightened. He just assumed Rika probably felt the same, even it was just for a second. As tough as Rika was, he knew that she had her moments where she was fragile. Unknowing to him, he had a good eye for seeing through Rika and knowing what her true thoughts were.

"Oh right," He paused and chuckled, "I guess when I hear a story that involves Digimon I assume that it's all physical." Rika lowered her eyebrow, a small smile appearing in the corner of her mouth.

"It's just weird that I would have that dream the night before all this happened. It's been bugging the shit out of me all day."

"Maybe you're a psychic or something. I see TV shows about people like that all the time. Oh! There was this one time where this guy saw a plane crash in a vision and totally freaked out because it was the plane he was already on. The plot was a little-" he stopped talking when he felt Rika's eyes piercing into his body. She let out a sigh before speaking,

"Just _once_ could you be helpful…" Takato frowned and looked towards the ground, saddened slightly by her comment.

"Sorry Rika," He muttered quietly. She quickly changed the look on her face as she realized maybe she was a little too harsh. She looked back to Takato, opening her mouth to say something, but another voice easily overpowered hers.

"TAKATO MATSUKI!" The deafening shout of Takato's mother roared down the street they were walking on. Peering around the entrance to the bakery stood a very angry looking Yoshie Matsuki. Takato felt his heart drop into his stomach as his mother's death glare was far scarier than any look Rika could possibly give.

"Oh crap," Takato stated, his face twitching with anxiety. He slowly started walking towards her, his head hung low. Rika followed just a few steps behind him. He bought his hands up and tightly gripped the shoulder straps of his backpack. He stopped walking once he was in front of his house, waiting a couple seconds to raise his head and look into his mother's eyes. Yoshie took a moment to look at Takato, and then glanced behind him at Rika. She put on a very good innocent schoolgirl look as she smiled and waved at Takato's mom.

"What is this I hear about you skipping class young man?" His mom's voice was lower than usual, weighted down with anger and disappointment. Takato bit the corner of his lip as he responded,

"W- well, there was an emergency and I had to-" His mother interrupted before he could finish.

"What kind of emergency? And if you say anything about it being related to digimon you're going to be grounded for quite some time. I've told you a thousand times already that your education is more important than a digital pet!" Takato narrowed his gaze towards his mother, his voice rising in volume and aggression.

"It's not just a digital pet, Guilmon is one of my best friends! And I didn't leave school to go and play around, there was an attack in the park and we had to go take care of it before people got hurt!"

"And what if you get hurt Takato?!" His mom's voice cracked a little as she shouted back to him, tears starting to form in her eyes. Now understanding where she was coming from, he lowered his voice back to his normal tone.

"It's a risk that I have to take Mom. Nobody else out there can stop Digimon that successfully emerge into our world, it has to be us, you know that. I mean, what if I want to be a police officer after I graduate? Are you going to tell me not to go to work because I could get hurt? I know that I can't just expect you not to worry, it's your job as my mother, but I can ask you to trust me a little more. I know what I'm doing, and I'm not alone," He stopped and looked over his shoulder to Rika. "Rika and Renamon. Henry and Terriermon. Kazu and Guardromon. Kenta and MarineAngemon. Jeri and Calumon. Ryo and Cyberdramon. Even Impmon, they're all fighting with me. I know it's not what you want to hear, but right now one of my friends is in danger and I won't let anything stop me until he's safe and sound. So ground me if you want, but I won't abandon any of them. Not now, not ever." Takato stood stern, his words proudly flowing out of his mouth. He waited a few seconds for his mom the respond, but she didn't. She stood there, Takato's powerful speech leaving her stunned.

Finally, Takato made his way around her, stopping when he was right next to her. "I'm going to be staying at Henry's tonight since it's the weekend. His dad invited me over since most of their family is out of town." He looked over to Rika, now speaking directly to her. "Give me a couple minutes to grab some clothes and stuff, I'll be right back!" His voice had turned back into its normal chipper sound as he walked into the front door and disappeared up the stairs.

Rika watched as the door closed behind him, and then looked towards his mother who was still blankly staring at the ground where Takato once stood. To Rika's surprise though, she didn't look upset anymore, in fact, there was a small smile across her face.

"That boy… he really has a way with words," She stopped and looked at Rika. "I know that he means well, but I'm sure you know how Takato can be. Will you please look after him for me? Make sure he doesn't get himself hurt?" Rika nodded her head, smiling back at her.

"Of course. I won't let anything happen to Goggles on my watch." She gave a thumbs up to Takato's mom, reassuring her even further. Yoshie let a chuckle escape from her mouth as she turned to walk back into the house. Sounds of footsteps could be heard coming thundering down the steps as she spoke a final parting sentence to Rika,

"Thank you Rika. You really are such a sweet girlfriend." She stepped inside the house, passing by Takato as she did. He was standing there motionless as his eyes twitched and his knees quivered, his eyes looked to his mother at first, but quickly switched to Rika. Her eyes were closed, but her brow was definitely twitching, a small anger vein was also present on her forehead. Takato's mother rested a hand on his shoulder, leaning in and whispering something to him.

"Good luck with that one." She patted his shoulder, a smirk on her face as she walked into the kitchen. Takato gulped down some air before exiting the bakery, closing the door behind him. He hesitantly joined Rika once again, holding up a small plastic bag in his hands.

"Want some bread?" He laughed awkwardly as he extended the bag out to her. His laughter stopped though when Rika reopened her eyes. He had never seen a look like this before, this was definitely one of her death glares, but it was on a level of its own.

"Girlfriend?" She stated, her voice still calm for now. Takato started fidgeting around, bringing the sack back down to his side.

"Oh that? Well you know how moms can be right? Haha one second they're in a fit of rage and the next they're planning wedding bells!" His goofy smile returned to his face as he placed one of his hands on the back of his head. That answer was not what Rika wanted to hear. She grit her teeth and another vein popped out on her forehead. Takato took notice and tried to fix the situation, but of course, he only made it worse. "T- totally not about you though! I don't even like you like that! I mean who would right?" He instantly regretted his choice of words as Rika's hand came flying across the air and smacked into his cheek. The force was strong enough to take him off balance and send him down to the ground, landing on his butt. He held the spot where she had hit him and looked back up to her. A mix of anger and sadness was on her face, her hand was still twitching with anger but her eyes were light, the complete opposite of her normal dagger like expression. She returned her hand to her side and then bolted down the sidewalk, leaving Takato lying on the ground in front of his house. He wanted to get up and run after her, but he was cut off once he was back onto his feet by a yellow paw pressing against his chest. Renamon stood next to him, but she didn't look at him. Her vision was focused on Rika as she made her way down the sidewalk, eventually turning a corner and disappearing from sight.

"I think I really messed up Renamon…" Takato mumbled, still rubbing his cheek. She finally looked towards him, lowering her paw back to her side.

"Earlier when I mentioned that you humans were interesting, you probably thought I was talking about you. That wouldn't be correct though, the human in particular I was talking about, was Rika." Takato thought back to when Renamon had appeared next to him after they left Henry's house. She appeared after he had been caught staring at Rika, and she was right, he definitely thought she was talking about him. "Rika is very delicate when it comes to emotions. She either bottles them up inside and won't talk to anybody, or she lets everything out at once. I'm afraid your poor choice of words ended up getting you the later of the two." Takato hung his head and let out a sigh. He knew he screwed up and he was beating himself up on the inside for it.

"Are you gonna go after her?" Takato asked, his voice quiet and defeated. Renamon looked towards the direction that Rika went, and then back to Takato.

"She is my tamer, and my friend, so of course I will go after her. She won't talk to me though, so you're coming with me." Without warning, she reached over and grabbed onto Takato's arm. She jumped up onto the roof of the bakery, yanking him along with her. She sprinted across the rooftops, leaping from building to building. Takato wrapped the bag of bread around his arm and held on tightly to Renamon with the other.

"What in the world makes you think that she'll talk to me? I'm probably the last person on that list!" Takato protested, occasionally glancing down at the streets below him as they leaped across buildings.

"You couldn't make it much worse now, could you?" Renamon replied, jabbing at him with her comment.

"Uh, have you met me? You just saw how I am with words! Of course I can make things worse!" Renamon stopped her movements on top of one the buildings and let Takato get his feet on the ground.

"You're right, I did just see how you are with words. Delivering a touching speech and changing the mind of a very angry mother." Takato looked away from her as he responded,

"I- I don't even know where that came from. I wasn't thinking about what I was saying, the words just kind of came out."

"No, your conversation afterwards with Rika was when you weren't thinking and letting the words fumble out. When you spoke with your mother, that came from your heart. You didn't need to think about what to say because it was how you truly felt."

There were a few seconds of silence that went by as Takato was unsure of what to say. Renamon didn't push it though, she just jerked Takato back up off of his feet and continued hoping across buildings.

When they came to a stop, Renamon leaped down so that they were back on the ground. They landed in a small alley in between the buildings, but one quick glance was all Takato needed to realize that they were very close to Rika's house. He felt Renamon let go of his arm as he looked around, but when he looked back, she was gone.

"Great…" He mumbled as he stepped out of the alley. Just as he appeared, he took a look across the street and spotted the familiar ponytail of Rika as she entered the gate to her house. Unsure of what to do, he simply made his way over and leaned his back up against the wall outside the gate. He waited for a few minutes, he could hear voices from inside being shouted about, but they didn't sound like they were angry, more like shouting just to cover distance.

Finally, he could hear footsteps coming from beyond the walls, heading towards the gate. He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and waited for the door to open. Sure enough, it was pushed open and he was met face to face with Rika once again. She had a small backpack tossed over her shoulder, probably containing clothes and whatnot for her overnight stay. She pulled back a little, taken off guard by Takato's sudden appearance. She quickly shook it off though as she pulled the gate closed behind her.

"Rika…I-"

"Can it Gogglehead. Let's go," Rika said cutting him off. Her voice was back to normal at least, and she didn't look quite as angry as she did earlier. He knew that if he let it go now, that it would be the end of it, but this isn't what he wanted. He knew he messed up and wanted to apologize properly before he would let it go. Just as Rika stepped past him, he reached out and grabbed onto her arm, turning her back towards him. He let go immediately once he had her attention, being careful not to piss her off again.

"I… I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I kind of made an ass out of myself and ended up making you angry. I know that eventually you'd let this go, but I wanted to tell you I'm sorry anyways." Rika slowly pulled her arm back to her side as she stared into Takato's eyes.

"…Kind of?" She replied sarcastically, a faint smile appearing on her face. Takato returned the smile as well.

"Okay, I made a complete ass out myself. That better?" He laughed as he unwrapped the paper bag he had around his wrist and reached inside of it, digging around for a few seconds. When his hand came back out, he was holding a piece of bread that was modeled after Renamon's head. Rika couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at this creation.

"Is that supposed to be Renamon?" She laughed as she took the bread out of his hand.

"C'mon it's not that bad is it? It was my first time doing something other than Guilmon and I didn't exactly have a model to look at," As he finished speaking he pulled out one of the famous pieces of Guilmon bread. Comparing the two side by side, the Renamon one definitely needed work. "I was gonna make one for Terriremon but I couldn't find a piece of dough big enough for his ego so I passed on it." That comment got a genuine laugh out of Rika as she took a bite out of her bread. Seeing her laugh brought a smile to Takato's face as well. He joined her in taking a small break to chow down before Rika motioned him with her head to follow her.

"I take it it's cool for you to stay at Henry's then?" Takato asked, taking another bite.

"Yeah, my mom isn't even home. She left this afternoon, apparently to go to another fashion show, so I just asked my grandma and she was fine with it. I think it honestly worked out better that way." Takato knew that Rika had a rough relationship with her mom, so he didn't want to stay on that subject any longer than necessary.

The two walked in silence for a few moments as they crossed the street and started to head back to Henry's. They rounded the street corner they were on, and Takato nearly bumped into another person on the other side. He went to apologize, but the other person started speaking first.

"Ah! This must be a sign of fate! Tell me young man, do you believe in magic?" The voice of the person who was speaking was that of a young man, who couldn't have been more than a year or two older than Takato. He was outfitted in a black tuxedo and a black masquerade mask across his eyes. He had dark brown hair that was currently slicked back, and soft aquatic blue eyes. He also had a tiny heart pendant hanging around his neck as a necklace. His voice was very loud and prominent as he spoke, trying to draw a crowd from the people that were passing by. As this man spoke to Takato, he held out a deck of cards in his hand, fanning them all out but keeping the back of them facing towards the two tamers. These were slightly larger than normal playing cards though, more around the size of a Digimon card. Takato's face perked up as he nodded his head.

"You bet I do!" He replied happily. Rika roller her eyes and crossed her arms as she knew there was no walking away until this was over. The man put the cards back together in a stack and began shuffling them.

"And what of fate? Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?" Even though the question was a deeper, more thoughtful question, the tone of voice didn't change. Going along with the trick, Takato nodded his head. The man smiled and then fanned the cards out in front of him once again, this time he had the back facing himself. Takato and Rika both raised an eyebrow and took a moment to look at each other before looking back to the cards. Every single one of them was blank, no picture, no design, no anything. They were just a bunch of blank white cards. The man's face never changed though, he continued holding out the cards with a smile on his face.

"Uh, am I supposed to pick one?" Takato asked confused.

"You may try and pick one, but this is where fate comes in. It doesn't matter what card you pick, I will know exactly what one you end up with each time," He paused and closed his eyes, motioning at him with the cards. Takato shrugged his shoulders and then carefully scanned the cards in his hand. He didn't want to pick the ones at the top, middle, or bottom because those would be too easy to guess, he wanted to aim for something that was in between two of the three. He finally reached out and grabbed one that was towards the bottom, but still quite a few cards away from the last card. After pulling the card out the man folded all the other cards back up and put them in his pocket, his eyes remaining closed until after he was done.

"Ahh, I see…" He mumbled, his voice sounding intrigued. "You are a bright person, the one shining light in the darkest of days. No matter what happens, you will always rise. You bring joy to those around you and rarely put yourself before others," He stopped for a moment to expand his smile, pointing to the card in Takato's hand. "You could have picked no other card than card number nineteen." Takato glanced down to the card in his hand, his eyes widening as he realized the card was no longer blank. In the top left and bottom right corners of the card appeared the letters XIX.

"Wow…" Takato gasped, shaking the card around in the air, checking to see if the trick was real. The man turned his attention towards Rika, reaching back in his pocket for the cards.

"How about you miss? Would you care for a trick?" Rika replied with a 'hmph' and started to walk off.

"I see… Cold. Distant. Unsure of yourself, and unable to depend on others," He paused and turned to face Rika. She had also stopped, but hadn't turned her head yet. "Loneliness becomes you, but you don't mind, or so you tell yourself. Yes, I'm sure…there is no other card than number nine." At this point Rika turned herself around angrily, about to approach this man, but she stopped when she felt something in between the webbing of her index finger and middle finger. She looked down to see one of the cards in her hand, the letters IX marked in the same corners as Takato's.

"What the…?" She muttered, taking a moment to glance at the card. She moved her eyes back to the man, the two exchanging glances with each other. He was the first to move, taking a few steps towards her. He reached out and grabbed the card out of her hand, glancing at the letters in the corner.

"The funny thing about fate miss, is that even if you choose to ignore it," He paused and extended out his arm, throwing the card across the street like it was a ninja star. Takato and Rika turned their heads, watching as it flew before smacking into a wall that was on the other side of the road. "It will always find its way to you," He finished his sentence with a head notion, signaling her to look back down to her hand. Lo and behold, the card was back in between her fingers, like nothing had ever changed. "I'm afraid this is where I must cut the show off, but I greatly thank you both for indulging me. Now, if you'll excuse me…" He bowed his head to them and started to walk away. Rika wanted to go after him, but she wasn't sure what she would say.

"Well that was something, wasn't it?" Takato said, tucking his card into his pocket.

"Something about that guy bugs me but I don't know what," Rika replied, narrowing her eyes at the back of the man's head.

"You probably just don't like that you can't get a good read on him. Unable to figure out if he's just really into magic or if he's a super weirdo." Takato gave her a response, but it was one of those answers that just fell out of his mouth. She shifted her gaze back to him, but she wasn't looking at him with her normal death glare. This look was actually fairly normal for Rika.

"That's… exactly right." Takato looked to her, a puzzled look on his face. He had been waiting for her usual 'can it' remark, but this was the exact opposite. He stood at her for a couple seconds before he finally came back to reality and started moving his feet.

"Well, we should probably get going. I need to apologize to Guilmon for leaving him behind, and I'm sure dinner is almost ready by now too." Takato smiled as images of food began appearing in his mind. Rika chuckled slightly, placing her card in her pocket as well. She joined Takato, standing next to him as the two made their way down the sidewalk, heading back to Henry's.


	4. The Lovers Mystery

Chapter Four

The Lovers Mystery

It was approaching the later part of the evening as the two tamers made their way back, the sky starting to turn orange as the sun began to set. A few clouds drifted here and there, but for the most part it was clear, a thin outline of the moon could be seen as a beautiful night was approaching. The streets were starting to become less crowded as people were finishing their drives home from work or out getting food. Takato and Rika rounded the corner and could now see the front gate to Henry's place.

"I sure hope the food is ready!" Takato said enthusiastically, poking his nose into the air, trying to see if he could smell anything. Unfortunately for him though, he just ended up with another nose full of Rika's awful perfume. He coughed a couple times afterwards, still not adjusted to her unique smell. Rika laughed slightly at him, but afterwards slowed her pace drastically until she came to a stop. Takato stopped as well, his heart skipping a beat as he was worried he might have upset her again. Her face looked uncomfortable as she opened her mouth to speak but closed it a couple seconds later.

"Everything okay Rika?" He asked, stepping a little closer to her. She closed her eyes and nodded in response, still not saying anything. Just as he was about to ask her again, a few words finally came out.

"I just… I didn't mean to hit you so hard earlier…" She finally said, but her voice was quiet and she was avoiding eye contact with him, practically talking directly to the ground. His ears perked up at her words though and he was able to make out what she said even through her mumbles. A soft smile came across his face as he lightly shook his head back and forth.

"No, it was all my fault. I said something really stupid and deserved what I got," He replied trying to tilt his head so he could see her eyes. Her face raised slowly, eventually their gazes meeting one another's. He continued on once their eyes met, "I didn't mean what I said either. I panicked cause my mom really threw me for a loop…" He blushed as this time he was the one to break eye contact with her, his eyes moving to and from hers, taking glances away and then back. He brought his hand up to the back of his head as well, feeling awkward and nervous about his statement, replaying the scene in his head.

"You didn't mean which part..?" she asked in a softer voice than normal, a small blush now appearing on her face as well. After speaking, she wasn't sure why she even asked that question, it just rolled off her tongue after hearing what he said. It took Takato off guard as well, his heart rate starting to quicken, making his current level of awkward evolve into a whole new level.

"Takatomon!" The sound of a familiar red dinosaur came from down the street, pulling the two of them out of their conversation. This immediately snapped Rika out of whatever mood she was feeling as her eyes returned to their piercing cold state and the blush vanishing off her face. They both looked down the street, seeing Guilmon poking his head out from around the gate to Henry's house. "Hurry up, the food is almost ready!" He shouted, waving his claw at the two of them before turning and heading back inside, his tail whipping and disappearing around the corner. Takato looked back to Rika who had already started walking, one hand slipped inside her jean pocket. He felt a little sad that they got interrupted, but at the same time he felt relieved. He certainly didn't expect her to ask him what she did, and thinking back on it he was almost positive he would have said something stupid again, possibly even worse than last time. She got a few steps ahead of him before she turned her head and looked over her shoulder, shouting and breaking him out of his thought process.

"Let's go Takato!" She hissed, annoyance present in her tone. His face returned to normal as well as the words reached his ears, quickly running to catch up to her. Another small grin unknowingly returned to his face as he did though, this was the first time in a long time she called him by his name. It was always gogglehead or goggles, but hearing her say his name, even though it was in wasn't in the happiest of tones, still brought a smile to his face.

Reaching the entrance to the gate, they stepped inside. Guilmon was standing in front of the door, smiling joyfully at the return of the two.

"Hey boy! Sorry about taking off and leaving you," Takato said as he approached him, patting his snout.

"It's okay! I had Henry and Terriermon to play with!" He closed his eyes as his tail started bobbing up and down and smacking the ground. "Henry introduced us to this new game, I think it was called the quiet game, I wasn't very good at that one though…" Both Takato and Rika laughed as the small red digimon brought his claw up to his chin and started to ponder the game.

"That's not surprising. C'mon, we should go inside," Takato stated, taking a few steps inside. He waited for Rika and Guilmon to come in behind him before closing the door and slipping his shoes off. As soon as he entered the house, a wonderful aroma hooked onto his nose, making inhale deeply to absorb the smell.

"That smells fantastic…" He muttered quietly.

"It's about time," Henry teased, leaning on the wall near the kitchen. He smiled as he waved them both over. The table in the kitchen was already set with enough plates for everybody, including the digimon. Standing over the stove and stirring a pot was Henry's father, a light apron on the front half of his body. He was currently reading through a cook book, taking glances from the recipe and then down and his pot.

"That smells great Mr. Wong!" Takato shouted happily, stepping into the room. His comment caused him to raise his head and glance over at him, Rika not too far behind.

"Please, call me Janyu," He replied waving his hand courteously. "You're just in time, you can go ahead and take a seat. I'll be bringing it over shortly." He smiled as he motioned his head over towards the table. Takato thanked him and took a seat, but Rika still remained over near the entrance to the kitchen, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed staring off into space.

"So, did you guys get permission to stay?" Henry asked, bringing Rika back to reality. He took a seat on the opposite of Takato so he was across from him. Takato nodded his head in response.

"Yeah. My mom wasn't too happy about the whole situation today at school but she didn't say I couldn't come over," Takato replied, his eyes wandering down to floor, not wanting to think about that scenario again. Henry looked over to Rika afterwards, awaiting her reply.

"My mother wasn't even home, but Grandma said it was fine," Rika added, finally pushing herself off the wall she was leaning against and made her way over to the table, taking the open seat next to Henry.

"Hey, that's my spot!" Terriermon shouted sarcastically as he jumped up and landed on her head, his small paws dangling over her forehead. He wasn't there for long though as the smell of her hair got to him almost instantly. It almost looked like a couple of X's replaced his eyes as he went limp and rolled off her head, falling to the ground.

"Bunny down…" he said with spinning eyes and dizziness in his voice. Henry chuckled as he pulled his partner up off the floor and set him atop of his own head.

"Hey, that looks like fun!" Guilmon laughed as he waddled over to Takato and leaped into the air. A blue chill came across Takato's face as he tried to prevent him from jumping, but to no avail.

"Guilmon wait! You're too-" he was cut off by Guilmon landing on him and knocking him over.

"Huh, where'd you go Takatomon?" He asked looking around. Rika and Henry both chuckled as Takato's hands came up and started waving around frantically, hitting Guilmon on the side of his body, causing him promptly to stand up and look below. Once off of him, Takato took a deep breath in to regain his breath. At this time Janyu had finished cooking and brought the large pot over to the table, setting it down on a pot holder. Inside was a soup that was mixed with thin noodles, carrots, peas, and meat. The steam of the food was coming out of the pot, capturing Takato and Guilmon instantly, a thin line of drool hanging off the corner of both their mouths.

"Before you guys start digging in, would you mind handing me your digivices? I'll be taking a small bowl into my study so I can get to work right away," Janyu asked, undoing the apron from his body and hanging it back up.

"Oh, sure!" Takato replied, unhooking his device from his pants and handing it to him. Rika did the same afterwards.

"Anything to shut this stupid thing up," She said as he took it from her.

"Thank you both. I'll let you know if anything comes up. Oh!" He paused and turned back around just as he stepped out of the room. "Just toss your dishes into the sink when you're done, I'll get to them later."

"Are you sure Dad? I can help out too you know," Henry offered. Takato grabbed the handle of a ladle that was in the pot and started pouring a bowl from himself and Guilmon.

"It's fine Son. Enjoy the time with your friends," His father replied stepping away again, disappearing around the edge and into his room. Rika was next to grab a bowl for herself, looking over to where she knew Renamon was. Finally phasing back into reality, the yellow fox approached and sat near Rika, her legs tucked underneath themselves in a kneeling position. Surprisingly, she set the first bowl down in front of her partner before reaching for another and making one for herself.

"Thank you Rika," Renamon said bowing her head towards her. She blushed slightly as she set her food down, taking a sip at it. Henry was last to get food, making a dish for himself. He went to make one for Terriermon but as soon as he finished with his own, the bunny jumped onto the table and grabbed onto the handle of the pot, starting to drag it over to the side where he was sitting.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Henry asked with a slight laugh as he reached and grabbed the other end, pulling it back towards the center.

"Whaaat? Everybody's already had some, that means the rest is for me!" He let go and started bouncing around on the table, hopping on alternating feet.

"I don't think so. Why don't you start with this first," He replied, sliding his bowl over to his partner. The bunny puffed out his cheeks but accepted the dish, sitting down on the table and slurping away. Henry sighed as he poured another bowl for himself.

"So, did either of you experience anything…weird, when you were biomerged earlier?" Rika spoke up, her eyes glancing between the two boys. Their eyes looked to their partners and then back to Rika.

"I didn't, what about you Takato?" Henry replied.

"I don't think so… what do you mean by weird? Did something happen with you?" Takato asked her in return, raising a curious brow.

"I just kept hearing this voice, and then I saw another person in there with me." This caused a surprised expression to appear on both of their faces.

"Was it the same voice like you told me earlier? Was it Diaboromon?" Takato asked, leaning forward in his seat. Rika nodded her head in response.

"Yeah, I'm fairly certain."

"What about this other person? Do you know who it was?" Henry inquired. She shook her head.

"No, I've never seen them before." Henry brought a hand up under his chin and pondered for a moment before turning to Terriermon.

"Did you see or feel anything weird when we were merged?"

"Nope!" He replied loudly, still focused on slurping down his food. Henry sighed at his response.

"Thanks a lot…" He muttered. Takato turned to Guilmon and asked the same thing, to which the dinomon shook his head as well.

"That's really weird… why was it only Rika who had a different experience?" Henry asked aloud, looking in her direction.

"That may not necessarily be true," Renamon interjected. Everybody, including Rika turned to look towards her. "Even I don't remember seeing anything different, but I do remember feeling it."

"It could be that maybe we were just so focused on the battle and weren't really paying attention to our inside surroundings," Henry pondered, his hand still underneath his chin. "What do you guys think?" He turned his head to his friends in the room, waiting for them to say something.

"It makes sense to me," Takato replied.

"Like I would know. It doesn't sound too far out there though," She added with her usual sassy attitude.

"I guess we can only hope that my dad figures something out soon. We don't really have anything to go off of right now…" Henry let his voice trail off, making slow stirs at his food. Their eyes all fell a little in defeat; they hadn't felt so powerless in a very long time. They spent the next few minutes in silence as they finished their meals, dishing out seconds to their digital partners afterwards. Guilmon and Terriermon all smiled happily as they started to chow down for round two. Takato stood up, taking his dishes over to the sink and dropping them off, as he did though the card he had in his pocket fell out, landing face up near the table. Henry noticed it from over on his side and raised an eyebrow, speaking out to Takato afterwards.

"Hey, where did you get that?" He asked him. Takato looked over his shoulder, noticing the card that was now on floor.

"Oh, that thing? Some magician caught us on the way back over here and did a trick for Rika and I. That was my souvenir, Rika got one too I think," He replied, looking over to Rika and confirming with her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her card, setting it on the table. Takato made his way back over and picked his up, setting it next to hers before taking a seat again. Henry blinked at the cards a couple times before reaching into his pocket on his jacket, pulling out a card of his own, setting it in front of the other two. His card had the letters XI marked in the same corners as theirs. Rika and Takato looked to each other, and then to Henry.

"You got one too?" Takato asked him, his voice full of curiosity. He nodded his head as he responded,

"Yeah, a magician caught Suzie and I last night before she left with Mom for the weekend."

"Did she get one too?"

"No, the guy only gave us the one card."

"Did he start spewing a bunch of stupid crap like fate and destiny?" Rika chimed in, an annoyed tone in her voice. Henry nodded his head again. "Figures. What a creep, people like that guy really rub me the wrong way." She added, leaning back on her hands and sighing. Takato fell quiet for a moment, focusing his gaze on the cards, getting lost in his own thoughts.

"Hey…" He spoke up quietly, catching the other tamers attention. "What if…we swipe them in our digivices? I mean, they're the same size and everything. It could be a modify card, or some kind of special digivolution!" He spoke energetically, opening his hands and smiling, waiting to hear some kind of praise. Instead, Henry and Rika just looked to one another and then back to him.

"That could be dangerous. What if it breaks the digivices? Or sends them all haywire again? It could be some sort of trap. Whoever that magician was, he certainly knew a lot about these things, and I get the feeling that he knew we had digimon of our own." Henry told him, practically smacking the smile off of his face.

"Yeah… you could be right," Takato said looking to the ground, slightly saddened.

"Even if we wanted to, we don't have them right now. In case you forgot, they're already broken," Rika added, pushing him down even more.

"It's okay Takatomon, I don't need any special card. I've got you, and that's all the power I need," Guilmon said, poking his snout next to Takato's face, a smile across his face. Takato brought his hand up and rubbed it on his partner's nose.

"Thanks boy," He told him, giving him a few pats. Henry picked up the left over dishes from the digimon and placed them in the sink, stretching his arms out over his head afterwards, letting out a small yawn.

"Well, what do you guys want to do now?" Henry asked them.

"I've got homework to do. You digidorks can do whatever you want," Rika said, reaching for her bag and fishing for her materials.

"You are the only person I know that would do homework at a sleepover," Takato chuckled. Even Henry chuckled at his comment. Rika, however, shifted her eyes over to Takato, glaring at him like normal.

"He's right you know," Terriermon chimed in, floating across the table with his ears, attempting to land on Rika's head. He plopped down and let his ears flop over her eyes, cupping them so she couldn't see. A soft smile came across her face as she reached up and pulled him off, setting him back on the table.

"Hey I've got an idea," Henry spoke up, snapping his fingers. "Why don't the two of you teach me the card game? I've been meaning to learn and I just bought a starter deck the other day." He looked around with a slight grin, knowing that he could snag both of their attention.

"Well sure! That sounds like fun. It'll be nice playing against somebody other than Rika all the time," He chuckled looking over at her. She scowled and hollered back at him,

"What's that supposed to mean Goggles?"

"N- Nothing! It can just be tiring getting your butt kicked so many times you know?" He laughed nervously. Rika sighed and slid her books back into her bag, reaching into the front pouch now and pulling out a small blue deck box. She set it on the table and opened it up, pulling her cards out. Guilmon took a seat next to Takato and looked at the cards, recognizing some of the digimon. Even Renamon poked her head over Rika's shoulder, blinking at the numbers on them, trying to understand them. Takato went to his bag and did the same, Henry disappearing to go and grab his from his room.

"Is this a game?" Guilmon asked, bringing a claw to his chin. Takato smiled as he set out a set of five cards in front of him.

"Yeah, the cards we use to power you guys up come from this game. You've got your monster cards, your digivolve cards, and your power up cards," He set out one of each of the cards as he spoke their names. Guilmon nodded his head, making an 'ohhh' noise as he tried to learn.

"How do you win?" The red dinosaur asked, cocking his head at his tamer.

"The first player to have three digimon defeated loses. You ideally want to ramp up and digivolve as quick as you can to put out a strong monster, but there are some strategies where you play a bunch of smaller ones and power them up to overwhelm your opponent before they can do anything." Guilmon nodded his head again. Takato sighed and placed his hand on his friend's snout. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you," He chuckled with a smile. Guilmon shoot his head with a grin across his face.

"Nope!" He proclaimed happily.

"That's okay, just sit back and watch, maybe you're a visual learner."

"A visual… Learner?" He muttered back confused, cocking his head slightly.

"Somebody who is better at learning things by watching somebody else do it rather than doing it themselves."

"Oh, okay!" He smiled and giggled again. Takato couldn't help but do the same, taking a glance over to Rika afterwards who was going through her deck. At this point Henry had returned to the room, a fresh out of the box deck in his hands.

"Alright, I think I'm ready. I went over the rules last night and I've watched a few videos so I think I understand how to play, I just need the experience now," Henry said eagerly, taking a seat down across from Takato. "Just to be sure though why don't you two go ahead and play a game and I'll watch and follow along." He looked to the two of them and then down to the cards on the table.

"Sure, whatever, I don't mind mopping the floor with Gogglebrain," Rika responded with a slight smile in the corner of her mouth. Takato sighed but began to shuffle up his cards. While he was doing that Rika stood from her spot and moved so she was sitting across from him, making it easier to play. Henry scooted out of the way to give her room, Terriermon and Guilmon sat on either side of him, Renamon kneeling beside Rika.

"Ladies first," Takato smiled at her. She scuffed but accepted his offer, drawing her hand of four cards and then another for her turn. She shuffled the cards in her hand around a bit, thinking about what she wanted to do. Finally making a decision she played a Biyomon card face up and another card underneath of it.

"Your move Takatomon," She said teasing him. He smiled and narrowed his eyebrows, drawing for his turn and gazing at his hand.

"Okay… how about… Agumon!" He declared as he put the card down face up. "Change to combat phase, and attack!" Rika's grin grew a little wider as she pulled out the card from underneath Biyomon and revealed it face up.

"You're so predictable… I'll activate the crest of love card, warp digivolving my Biyomon into Garudamon. Your Agumon is toast." She said flicking his card off of the field and over into his discard pile.

"Whaaaaa?! When did you get a crest card! That's not fair!" He whined, setting his cards down, ending his turn. Her smile grew as she took her turn, drawing a new card. She placed the newest card underneath her Garudamon, and motioned to him that she was done.

"Alright, let's try this way then! Veemon, you're up!" He declared again, placing the card in the spot where his Agumon once was. "And because I've got him in my digizone, I can play this," He continued placing another card on the table. It was a picture of a golden box with multiple angel like wings coming from it. "Search for the golden digieggs! I'll remove all copies of Angemon from my deck to add the digieggs of miracles to my hand. Then I'll play that to digivolve my Veemon straight into Magnamon!" He got a huge smile on his face as he picked up his deck and started pulling out cards, eventually overlaying his Magnamon card on top of Veemon. Rika gasped, taken off guard by his move, squeezing onto her cards slightly tighter than normal. "When he takes the stage I can remove up to two cards from your digimon, so you can go ahead and say goodbye to your power up cards!" She grunted but removed her cards from underneath her Garudamon cad, placing them in her discard zone.

"I didn't expect you to be playing the golden digideck. I'll admit it's a huge step up from whatever your last deck was, but we're just getting started," She complimented him, but still had the look of battle in her eyes.

"That we are. Combat phase, Magnamon will attack and take down your Garudamon, then it's your go," Takato replied, wiping his finger under nose, a goofy smile still on his face. She made a 'hmph' noise as she drew a card, looking at the three cards she had available. She placed the tip of her thumb in her mouth, biting down on her nail as she though out her next move.

"Okay, I've got it," She said placing down a Dorumon card. She set one card underneath of it and another card face down behind it, emptying her hand. She waved her hand at him, passing her turn. Takato raised a brow, the small purple rookie no match for his mega on field. It had taken some damage from taking down Garudamon, but still plenty healthy for a rookie. He drew for his turn and then went straight into his combat phase.

"I'll attack your Dorumon, that's two down Rika!" He said with confidence.

"As if, I'll activate my power chip modify card," She replied flipping over her card that was underneath Dorumon. "This will make their power the same and they'll destroy each other." Takato sighed and went to reach for his card when Rika brought her hand up to stop him. "I'm not done yet. I'll activate this card as well," She flipped over the last cad on her field, the picture on it a giant blue glowing portal. "Millenniummon's time portal. This will revive both our digimon back to the state they were when they left, and then digivolve them. So my Dorumon becomes Dorugamon, and since your Magnamon can't digivolve again, it's stuck right where it's at, making it weaker than mine. That's game Goggles," She said with a smile as she leaned backwards, resting her hands against the back of her hand. Takato sat with his mouth open, his eyes rapidly scanning the field, looking for a way out, but he didn't have one. He brought his hands up to his face and sighed,

"I was so close! I'll probably never get a hand that good again!" He whined, very sore about not being able to close the game out.

"Wow, that was really smart Rika," Henry chimed in, praising her tactics. She blushed a little at his compliment, pulling her hands down and crossing them over her chest.

"I- It was nothing," She replied, a hint of arrogance in her voice. Henry scooted back over and swapped her spots, wanting to test his knowledge and play against Takato. Rika watched for quite a while as the two exchanged games back and forth, the best of three turning into best of five, and then to seven. She couldn't help but smile and chuckle as the two continued to play for well over an hour. It wasn't until the rabbit digimon plopped over Henry's head and stretched out his paws over his eyes, that either of them realized how much time had gone by.

"Are you getting tired pal?" Henry asked, his eyes looking above him to see the dangling floppy ears over his face.

"I'm not sleeping, I'm setting a record for the longest blink," He teased back, a yawn escaping his mouth. After the first couple games Rika had gone back over to her bag and pulled out her books, starting on the weekend homework, still taking glances to see how their battles were going.

"Having fun?" Henry's father had poked his head around the corner, admiring the group with a smile. "I don't mean to interrupt, but there is something I want you all to come take a look at," He waved his hand for the group to follow him as he turned and headed back to his study. They all stood up and followed behind him, leaving their stuff on the table.

"What's up Dad?" Henry asked him, Terriermon still situated on his head.

"I found something interesting when I was looking over Rika's digivice," He replied. They all stepped into his study, it wasn't very big but there was enough room for all of them to fit. It had a single desk in it with a desktop computer set up. Their digivice's were all stacked on top of each other, with the exception of Rika's. Hers was plugged into the computer, and currently projected onto the computer screen. He took a seat in his chair and pulled himself into the desk. The screen had a long string of green numbers going across it, and they were moving very quickly.

"Is this what you showed me earlier?" Henry asked his father. He nodded his head and moved his finger to the screen, pointing out what he was about to say.

"Yes, this is the same thing. Every now and again you can see a black number make its way across the coding. What I've deduced from this is what you guys already know, that the digivice has somehow contracted a virus. What I called you in here for is this…" He strung on his voice as he moved the mouse across the screen and called up the programing files for the digivice. Inside were a few folders, one folder tilted 'RIKA', another 'RENAMON', another ' ', and the final one 'DEX'. Once the screen was up, Janyu returned his finger so it was hovering over the names he would be referring to.

"I've done some looking and a lot of these are fairly straight forward. This one here shows that Rika is this digivices owner, and that Renamon is her partner that the device is linked to. The source info one is the devices connection to the digital world, it's what allows you to track your partners and what brings up your radars out in the real world. This last one though, at first I thought it was also pretty normal, but that isn't the case. This is what contains the information about all the digimon that it has knowledge of, giving you your rundowns and stats of wild ones that you encounter. What I didn't realize is that there's another sub folder hidden inside here, this one here," He paused and highlighted another folder. Once it was visible he double clicked and opened it, prompting a chat window to appear on screen.

'Hello.' The words typed themselves out across the screen, opening the mouths off all the towers, a couple gasps coming from them as well.

"Did you do that?" Henry asked looking to his father. He shook his head in response.

"I didn't. I believe this is that AI program inside the digivice, that this here IS the digivice," Janyu replied, staring at the box.

"Well, should we say anything back? It can't hear us can it?" Takato asked looking around.

"I don't believe so, it hasn't typed anything other than this message you see here. This is all the farther I've gotten before I came to get you all," He paused and spun his chair around so he was facing them now.

"I say we should make it talk. I have a few choice words for this thing," Rika said taking an angry step forward and placing her fingers on the keyboard.

'Are you my digivice?' she typed out, hitting the enter button after she was done. An hour glass appeared on the screen and spun around for a second before disappearing.

'SOURCE INFO_ACCESS FILE FOR MASTER USER_OWNER FOUND. Yes, this device belongs to RIKA NONAKA.' She narrowed her eyes at the screen, looking over her shoulder back at the other two and then back to the screen.

'Do you have a virus? Is something wrong?'

'SYSTEM FILES_RUN DIAGNOSTICS. . . ERROR- UNABLE TO COMPLETE DIAGNOSTIC RUN. Yes, something appears to be wrong with the inner workings of my system. Please assist.' She pulled away with a confused look on her face.

"Please assist? What the heck does it want us to do about it?" She asked aloud. Takato approached and looked over her shoulder, reading the messages.

"That's a good question. Maybe you should ask it," He replied looking to her. She shrugged her shoulders and typed out another message.

'How can we assist?'

'SEARCHING FILES_ATTEMPTING TO FIND SOLUTION. . . SOLUTION FOUND. I've come up with a solution. Become digital and terminate the virus from the inside.'

"What? Become digital? Like the time we all went to the digital world?" Takato asked, reading over her shoulder. Henry was now also leaning over her other shoulder, reading as well.

'Become digital how?' She typed.

'PROGRAM FILES_DIGITAL UPLOAD LAUNCHING. Please remain still, this will only take a moment.' Rika opened her mouth to say something, but a bright white light beamed from the screen of the digivice and silenced her along with everybody else. She struggled but managed to open her eyes, they were still stuck in a squint though. She could see something coming from the digivice, or to be more accurate, something coming out of the digivice. After a few seconds there was a digital creation staring them down, and to Rika's surprise, it looked just like the boy that she saw when she was biomerged.

"Process complete," The boy said smiling at her, extending his hand out and grabbing onto her arm. He gave her a tug and puller towards him, back into the screen.

"Rika!" Takato and Henry yelled out after her. It was too late though; whatever came from the digivice grabbed onto her and pulled her into it. The light went away afterwards, and the room dimed back down. Rika wasn't anywhere to be found, and the screen on the digivice went black, one final message box flashing on the screen.


End file.
